Sunday, 28 August 2016

Doctor Who Vs. Casualty, Series 1

BBC One's Saturday night flagship medical drama
has endured for more than a thousand instalments
over thirty years - the thirty-first series began with an
explosive feature-length anniversary special last night.
The programme, now stylised as CASUAL+Y, was
created by socialist screenwriters Jeremy Brock (born
1959) and Paul Unwin (born 1957) as a direct response
to Thatcherism, and launched on September 6 1986.Casualty (set in the fictional Bristol suburb of Holby)
is both the world's longest-running show of its genre,
and the most enduring medical drama on prime time
television.
The popular franchise has earned many accolades (including three BAFTA and two RTS awards), and spawned four spin-off series - Holby City (1999 to present), Casualty@Holby City (2004/05), Casualty 1900s (2006-09), and Holby Blues (2007/08).

According to a Radio Times survey, the programme has seen more guest
roles for future stars than any other UK soap or drama - Christopher Eccleston, Alfred Molina, Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom, Martin Freeman,
Minnie Driver,Tom Hiddleston, Ray Winstone, David Walliams, Johnny Lee
Miller, Robson Green, Pam Ferris, Caroline Quentin, Pete Postlethwaite,
David Harewood, Marc Warren, Norman Wisdom, and Honor Blackman have
all appeared on Casualty.

The original leading characters were Ewart Plimmer (played by Bernard Gallagher), Dr. Baz Samuels (Julia Wason), Clive King (George Harris), Megan Roach (Brenda Fricker), Lisa Duffin (Cathy Shipton), and the longest-serving cast member Derek Thompson has portrayed Charlie Fairhead (pictured) since the opening episode, Gas. In 1989, Fricker became the first Irish actress to
win an Oscar for her role in My Left Foot.
The first, fifteen-part season featured Roberta Tovey, and forty otherDoctor Who cast and crew connections:

Robert Pugh (Andrew Ponting, 1986/87) was Tony Mack in The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood

Trevor Cooper (Ralph here; Eddie, 1995) was Takis in Revelation of the Daleks, and Friar Tuck in Robot of Sherwood

Roy Evans (Relative) was Trantis in The Daleks' Master Plan, Bert in The Green Death, and a Miner in The Monster of Peladon

Graham Cole (Junior Doctor) made ten uncredited appearances in the classic run - he was a Krarg in Shada, Player in The Leisure Hive (1), a Marshman in Full Circle, the Melkur in The Keeper of Traken (and part 2 of Time Flight), a Kinda, a Cyberman in Earthshock and The Five Doctors, Crewman in Resurrection of the Daleks (1), and Jacondan in The Twin Dilemma (1)

David Simeon (Bates) was Private Latimer in Inferno, and Alastair Fergus in The Daemons

Jonathan Evans (Dougie) was one of the titular tribesmen in Kinda (1), and Marshall in Earthshock

John Bloomfield (Mike) was the costume designer on The Face of Evil and The Talons of Weng-Chiang

Michael Bilton (Arthur) was Charles de Teligny in The Massacre, Collins in Pyramids of Mars, and a Time Lord in The Deadly Assassin

Eric Francis (Mal) was the First Elder in The Sensorites

Bruce Purchase (Spiderman) was the Captain in The Pirate Planet

Harry Fowler (Terry) was Harry in Remembrance of the Daleks

Keith Jayne (Luke) was Will Chandler in The Awakening

Tom Lucy (Beck) was the stunt co-ordinator on sixteen stories (from Smith and Jones to The Next Doctor) and Torchwood

Big Finish actor Jon Glover (Commentator/Jeremy) provided the voice of the Shansheeth for The Sarah Jane Adventures: Death of the Doctor, and voiced Grant for Slipback, both Creodont and Dr. Verryman for Forty-Five (2008), Father Christmas for Death in Blackpool (2009), and Jafrid for The Well-Mannered War (2015)

Peter Halliday (Piet) was Packer (and provided the Cyber Director Voice) in The Invasion, voiced the titular Silurians in their debut story and the Aliens in The Ambassadors of Death, then was Pletrac in Carnival of Monsters, a Soldier in City of Death, and the Vicar in Remembrance of the Daleks (2)

Susan Jameson (Harriet) was originally cast as Morgan for Colony in Space but was replaced by Tony Caunter - she later voiced Mrs. Moynihan for The Spectre of Lanyon Moor (BF, 2000), and Mrs. Wibbsey for AudioGo's Hornets' Nest (2009), Demon Quest (2010) and Serpent Crest (2011)series

Keith Marsh (Arthur) was Conway in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD

writer Wally K Daly submitted the unused script The Ultimate Evil

sound supervisor Martin Ridout worked on Time Flight, Snakedance, Mawdryn Undead, Enlightenment, The King's Demons, The Five Doctors, Warriors of the Deep, The Awakening and Frontios

John Mooney was also sound assistant on Remembrance of the Daleks, Silver Nemesis (3), The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Battlefield and Ghost Light

production manager Marcus DF White was an AFM on The Awakening

Patricia Greenland was also production assistant on Full Circle

technical co-ordinator Ray Hider began his career as lighting technician on The Power of the Daleks (6), and was technical manager on Terror of the Autons (1)

Julie Mann was vision mixer on The Greatest Show in the Galaxy too

camera supervisor Rodney Taylor was the senior cameraman on The Creature from the Pit